Electric coupling



eb 8 J. R. GAMMETER 'ELECTRIC COUPLING Filed June 23. 1922 having a generally Patented Feb. s, 19a?.

)UNITED STATESv PATENT orFicE. j

JOHN n. GAMMETER, or AKRON, omo, Assrenoia To THE -n.. F. Goonnrcr coMPANY,

lOF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATXON OF'NEW YORK.

' Emerald courmue.

Appneatinjmea June 23,

` This invention relates to electric couplings, and particularly to such as are adapted for bulbs or coupling elements having more than two terminals, as in the case ot' vacuum tubes or bulbs used'in wireless .telephone apparatus. Certain limperfections inhere in connections heretofore used, requiring a rotary movement of the bulb tol mount or unmount it, as in the case of a bavonet-lock connection, for example, in

that' the glass of the bulb is likely' tobe loosened if it be improperly manipulated, asl

by turning it the wrong' way to disconnect the bayonet-joint, and poor electrical contacty is sometimes vobtained on one or more vof the terminals. v `4My object is to overcomethese difficulties,

especially with now employed which are providedwith a single indexing and latchingstud on the side face of the base, and to that end I rovide a connection adapted to be assem ledI by relative axial movement of itsmembers without turning, thus avoiding liability to 'looseningvof the glass bulb in'its base and also enabling the electrical connection lbetween the terminals on the bulb and those on -the socket to be improved when necessary by moving the vbulb-base in its socket without breaking the connections. e

Of the accompanying drawings:

Fig; 1 is aI side elevation of a bulb or vacuum tube and its preferred form of my invention.i Fig.' 2 is areverse plan view of the same.

i ,Referring to the drawings, 10 is the bulb, cylindricallbase 11, from one side of which projects a stud 12, and from the bottom of which projects four terminal studs or posts 13, 13..

.The socket comprises a sleeve 14 of hard rubber -or; other insulating materiahfpreferably molded, of somewhat irregular form, having, as here shown, a through vpassage enerally cylindricall form adapted .to receive the base 11 of the bulb, and anenlarged base portion 15, here shown asbeing rectangular' and provided with a seating flange 16 around its outerperiphery. The

upper portion loi? the sleeve is here shown as being externally cylindrical except that on v one side it is formed with a thickened wall 17 terminating' in an attachment fa'ce 18 Aflush with a sidefofthe base-portion 15, and

respect to .bulbs of a type' socket, embodying' a ceive anchor screws.

other. During this movement 19'22. senat Nq. suisse.v

on another side with a groove or recess 19 adapted to be occupied by and permit limited transverse movement of a spring-catch or .said stud to hold the bulb in its seat,

For contacting the respective terniinal are secured at their outer ends to the under face of the base-portion 15 or the sleeve by bolts 23,23, formingparts of the binding- .posts 24 for the external-wires.` The free ends of said spring terminals extend radially posts 13l of the bulb, spring terminals 22, 22

cam-latch 20 having its lower end secured to the base-portion 15 of the sleeve, as fby the-v inward lto positions where they are adapted to be contacted respectively by the terminal posts 13 'of the bulb-base and 'tobev sprung thereby vwhen the bulb is fully seated. Each of said spring contacts lies between a pair ofguide-studs 26, 26 formed upon the basep o.rt1on-15 of the sleeve and adapted to prevent-lateral: displacement of the springterminal while. ermittng it to be licked under pressure o the post 13. 4

The base flange 16 terminates in a lane below the lowermost position or part o any of the members heretofore described, and

' 27, 27 are bosses formed on the under side of the base-portion 15,' said bosses having attachmentfaces lying in said plane,^and be.- ing formed with tapped'holes 28, 28.to re- Thel thickened wall .1.7 of the sleeve is also formed 'with tappedl holes 29,29 (Fig. 1), for the reception of attaching screws, the sleeve being thus adapted Vto be mounted on either a horizontal or aver-- tical. support. f

' In mountingv the bulb its base 11 simply thrust axially into the socket or sleeve 14,

without turning, thestud 12,v guided in the its respective spring-terminal 22 and no p of the bulb the cam-latch 20 is automatically sprung out into the back of. the groove by said stud, as indicated by dotted linesin Fig. 1, and retainingly engages` said stud when the latter groove 19, assuring that each ofthe terminal v posts will movel directly 7into contact with passes its hooked end portion, at lwhich time `the posts 13 have contacted thev spring-terminals 22 with substantial pressure, the. ria-- action of said. spring-terminals then assuring a constant, irm Contact with each of the several posts. In case the'contact surfaces become fouled or corroded, they may be cleared and improved contact had by rotatively Wiggling the bulb as permitted by the greater Width of the groove 19 than that of the stud 12, as shown clearly in Fig. 2,

or by moving the bulb down and up 1n its socket, and thus scraping the posts 13 upon the spring-terminals. In dismounting the4 bulb the cam-latch 2O -is- 'simply sprung out by hand, whereupon the bulb is partly ejected by the force of the spring terminals so that the stud 12 rises above' the Ilatching shoulder of the cam-latch spring, and although the latter is then released the bulb continuesto be so supported by, the spring terminals or by the lateral pressure of the spring 20 against the end of the stud, that it may be freely Withdrawn,

or the bulb may be left in the socket but held by the spring 2 0 out of contact with the spring terminals if it'is' desired only to disconnect the bulb Without removing it.

The rubber socket member may be convensembled therewith.

iently made in a single `piece, as by. molding, and the metal parts' may 4readily be as The device is susceptible of modification Within the scope of my invention, .and I do not Wholly limit my claims uto the exact I claim: y

1. An electric lcoupling comprislng an embodiment here shovvn.

sleeve-like'socket member, the wall thereof being internally formed With a longitudinally disposed recess, la single cam-latch spring. mounted on said socket member and extending-longitudinally Within said recess,-

and 'spring ternnnals mounted in said socket lmember, said cam-latch springend said spring terminals being enclosed by said socket member' except at the -ends of' the latter, and said cam-latch spring haying a manually engageable portion .fprojectmg from' the mouth of the socket member and so formed aslfreely to stand away from a` y plug member mounted in said socket member and engaged by said cam-latch spring. socket for a radio bulbhaving an lndexlng and latching stud projecting from the side face of its base, the said socket com-` prising a sleeve member adapted to receive sald base and formcdwlth a longitudinally terminals mounted in said sleeve and adapted to exert an axial thrust upon the terminals of the bulb when the latter is seated, and a cam-latch spring mounted on said sleeve member and adapt-ed to enga-ge the Said stud -to secure the bulb in` the socket, said spring' being so formed as to provide disposed recess to receive said stud, `spring in succession from the base ofthe springoutward an abutment to interlock with 'the stud, a portion adjacent thereto adapted to deflect. the springas a cam-latch in the mountlng of the bulb and alternatively to' act against .the stud to support the bulb out of contact with the spring terminals, and an outwardly bent terminal portion adapted to stand freely awayfrom the bulb and the -socket for ready manual engagement thereof.

3; A socket for an electric bulbhaving a cylindrical base and a single stud projecting from aside face thereof, the said socket comprising a sleeve adapted to telescope with the said base throughout asuiiicient length to prevent cramping tl1ere0f, a single cam-latch spring mounted in the sleeve and adaptedi to engage the stud and lla-ving an end. portion'projecting from the sleeve and adapted to be freely engaged outside of the sleeve to release the bulb, and spring termi-l 

